Review Most improved player so far in 2024

Most improved player so far in 2024


  • Total voters
    108
  • This poll will close: .

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Blightys Barrel

Team Captain
Jul 31, 2022
394
753
AFL Club
North Melbourne
One of the great awards in a football club is the most improved player. For the Kangas on the way up the ladder in 2024. Who has put their hand, mind and body up to be the improved?
  • First year draft players excluded
  • Traded in players count (eg, Pink, Biggy, Stephens etc)
  • Timing is from day of exit interview (Sept 2023 to now)
  • 3 picks only
 

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For me it's got to be big X. This time last year I saw very little value in him. I couldn't believe the club could be so negligent in letting Goldy walk to that other mob. He has been a revelation and I will gladly eat every slice of that humble pie that I have baked for myself. Keep it up big fella 👍
Yeah and I wonder how close we came to losing him for a third round pick
 
I think all the players in the poll have showed improvement this season, but three I selected are:

Xerri - I didn't think he was an AFL standard ruck last season, now I think he is an outside chance of an AA squad selection this season. He is an absolute beast in the middle and compliments our midfielders well.

Comben - his move to the backline has been the best decision of the season, he has solidified our backline and it as a result it has looked stronger and more resilient as the season has progressed. He is our AA calibre CHB for the next decade.

Archer - I was always hopeful that Junior would show a bit of the fight and class that his dad showed for 14-15 seasons back in the 90's and 00's, and while I saw the fight from game one, the last month we have seen a bit of class as well. He reads the play well, puts his body on the line and is now showing his ability to intercept and play a more attacking game.

I'd like to mention Kallan Dawson as well who I think can become an important KPD over the coming years. At the start of season, we were all concerned about our back six, and the first 11 rounds it looked like a bit of a mess, but since the bye the improvement in Comben, Archer and Dawson shows we are building a strong back six which will only improve furtheras they play more games together.
 
Nostra is busy and having connectivity issues , he sent me mail via aus post.

Told me to put him down for Pink & Bailey Scott.
 
According to AFL ratings and Supercoach, our biggest improvers to our biggest drop offs:

2024 vs 2023.

It's a pretty good illustration of our year to date.

Some absolutely massive (some of these numbers are huge) improvements from younger players. Some big drop offs across the board by "senior players"

Ford is an outlier as he's impacted by sub appearances vs majority starting appearances in 2023.

PlayerMatchesAge_DecimalRatings DiffSupercoach Diff
Charlie Comben
12​
23.44​
7.303​
35.94​
Blake Drury
5​
20.96​
6.135​
21.95​
Tom Powell
15​
22.83​
5.556​
23.81​
Tristan Xerri
15​
25.79​
5.162​
38.711​
Harry Sheezel
15​
20.21​
5.008​
16.211​
George Wardlaw
13​
20.55​
4.238​
24.394​
Jackson Archer
7​
21.97​
3.329​
12.286​
Kallan Dawson
7​
26.44​
2.6​
12.571​
Curtis Taylor
6​
24.73​
0.711​
6.812​
Paul Curtis
15​
21.82​
0.377​
10.057​
Charlie Lazzaro
9​
22.76​
0.167​
2.556​
Darcy Tucker
15​
27.93​
-0.015​
7.267​
Luke Davies-Uniacke
15​
25.56​
-0.397​
-4.976​
Jaidyn Stephenson
10​
25.95​
-0.502​
-4.286​
Luke McDonald
14​
29.89​
-0.812​
-12.552​
Callum Coleman-Jones
3​
25.55​
-0.966​
-10.778​
Bailey Scott
15​
24.47​
-1.071​
-6.559​
Hugh Greenwood
3​
32.82​
-1.303​
-2.357​
Miller Bergman
1​
21.93​
-1.317​
-6.5​
Cameron Zurhaar
14​
26.61​
-1.385​
0.474​
Josh Goater
1​
21.58​
-1.53​
-14.2​
Jy Simpkin
10​
26.82​
-1.596​
-7.733​
Aidan Corr
15​
30.62​
-2.062​
-3.888​
Nick Larkey
15​
26.56​
-2.297​
-10.368​
Eddie Ford
12​
22.52​
-2.615​
-12.31​
Liam Shiels
10​
33.67​
-3.716​
-21.388​
 
Last edited:

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According to AFL ratings and Supercoach, our biggest improvers to our biggest drop offs:

2024 vs 2023.

It's a pretty good illustration of our year to date.

Some absolutely massive (some of these numbers are huge) improvements from younger players. Some big drop offs across the board by "senior players"

Ford is an outlier as he's impacted by sub appearances vs majority starting appearances in 2023.

PlayerMatchesAge_DecimalRatings DiffSupercoach Diff
Charlie Comben
12​
23.44​
7.303​
35.94​
Blake Drury
5​
20.96​
6.135​
21.95​
Tom Powell
15​
22.83​
5.556​
23.81​
Tristan Xerri
15​
25.79​
5.162​
38.711​
Harry Sheezel
15​
20.21​
5.008​
16.211​
George Wardlaw
13​
20.55​
4.238​
24.394​
Jackson Archer
7​
21.97​
3.329​
12.286​
Kallan Dawson
7​
26.44​
2.6​
12.571​
Curtis Taylor
6​
24.73​
0.711​
6.812​
Paul Curtis
15​
21.82​
0.377​
10.057​
Charlie Lazzaro
9​
22.76​
0.167​
2.556​
Darcy Tucker
15​
27.93​
-0.015​
7.267​
Luke Davies-Uniacke
15​
25.56​
-0.397​
-4.976​
Jaidyn Stephenson
10​
25.95​
-0.502​
-4.286​
Luke McDonald
14​
29.89​
-0.812​
-12.552​
Callum Coleman-Jones
3​
25.55​
-0.966​
-10.778​
Bailey Scott
15​
24.47​
-1.071​
-6.559​
Hugh Greenwood
3​
32.82​
-1.303​
-2.357​
Miller Bergman
1​
21.93​
-1.317​
-6.5​
Cameron Zurhaar
14​
26.61​
-1.385​
0.474​
Josh Goater
1​
21.58​
-1.53​
-14.2​
Jy Simpkin
10​
26.82​
-1.596​
-7.733​
Aidan Corr
15​
30.62​
-2.062​
-3.888​
Nick Larkey
15​
26.56​
-2.297​
-10.368​
Eddie Ford
12​
22.52​
-2.615​
-12.31​
Liam Shiels
10​
33.67​
-3.716​
-21.388​
Scary looking at the above and shining the light on our 2024 6 person leadership group. Only 1 is in the positive, and 5 are in the negative.
 
According to AFL ratings and Supercoach, our biggest improvers to our biggest drop offs:

2024 vs 2023.

It's a pretty good illustration of our year to date.

Some absolutely massive (some of these numbers are huge) improvements from younger players. Some big drop offs across the board by "senior players"

Ford is an outlier as he's impacted by sub appearances vs majority starting appearances in 2023.

PlayerMatchesAge_DecimalRatings DiffSupercoach Diff
Charlie Comben
12​
23.44​
7.303​
35.94​
Blake Drury
5​
20.96​
6.135​
21.95​
Tom Powell
15​
22.83​
5.556​
23.81​
Tristan Xerri
15​
25.79​
5.162​
38.711​
Harry Sheezel
15​
20.21​
5.008​
16.211​
George Wardlaw
13​
20.55​
4.238​
24.394​
Jackson Archer
7​
21.97​
3.329​
12.286​
Kallan Dawson
7​
26.44​
2.6​
12.571​
Curtis Taylor
6​
24.73​
0.711​
6.812​
Paul Curtis
15​
21.82​
0.377​
10.057​
Charlie Lazzaro
9​
22.76​
0.167​
2.556​
Darcy Tucker
15​
27.93​
-0.015​
7.267​
Luke Davies-Uniacke
15​
25.56​
-0.397​
-4.976​
Jaidyn Stephenson
10​
25.95​
-0.502​
-4.286​
Luke McDonald
14​
29.89​
-0.812​
-12.552​
Callum Coleman-Jones
3​
25.55​
-0.966​
-10.778​
Bailey Scott
15​
24.47​
-1.071​
-6.559​
Hugh Greenwood
3​
32.82​
-1.303​
-2.357​
Miller Bergman
1​
21.93​
-1.317​
-6.5​
Cameron Zurhaar
14​
26.61​
-1.385​
0.474​
Josh Goater
1​
21.58​
-1.53​
-14.2​
Jy Simpkin
10​
26.82​
-1.596​
-7.733​
Aidan Corr
15​
30.62​
-2.062​
-3.888​
Nick Larkey
15​
26.56​
-2.297​
-10.368​
Eddie Ford
12​
22.52​
-2.615​
-12.31​
Liam Shiels
10​
33.67​
-3.716​
-21.388​

Definitely a changing of the guard happening which is exactly what you want to see.
 
I mean, even just WITHIN the season, Xerri.

His ruck work and synergy with the mids early in the year was awful, he got big numbers, but none of those numbers benefited his mids.

Last 8 weeks or so he has clicked with the mids and is still offering up a huge amount individually. It is impossible to replace a ruck like Goldy, but Xerri so far is a worthy successor.
 
According to AFL ratings and Supercoach, our biggest improvers to our biggest drop offs:

2024 vs 2023.

It's a pretty good illustration of our year to date.

Some absolutely massive (some of these numbers are huge) improvements from younger players. Some big drop offs across the board by "senior players"

Ford is an outlier as he's impacted by sub appearances vs majority starting appearances in 2023.

PlayerMatchesAge_DecimalRatings DiffSupercoach Diff
Charlie Comben
12​
23.44​
7.303​
35.94​
Blake Drury
5​
20.96​
6.135​
21.95​
Tom Powell
15​
22.83​
5.556​
23.81​
Tristan Xerri
15​
25.79​
5.162​
38.711​
Harry Sheezel
15​
20.21​
5.008​
16.211​
George Wardlaw
13​
20.55​
4.238​
24.394​
Jackson Archer
7​
21.97​
3.329​
12.286​
Kallan Dawson
7​
26.44​
2.6​
12.571​
Curtis Taylor
6​
24.73​
0.711​
6.812​
Paul Curtis
15​
21.82​
0.377​
10.057​
Charlie Lazzaro
9​
22.76​
0.167​
2.556​
Darcy Tucker
15​
27.93​
-0.015​
7.267​
Luke Davies-Uniacke
15​
25.56​
-0.397​
-4.976​
Jaidyn Stephenson
10​
25.95​
-0.502​
-4.286​
Luke McDonald
14​
29.89​
-0.812​
-12.552​
Callum Coleman-Jones
3​
25.55​
-0.966​
-10.778​
Bailey Scott
15​
24.47​
-1.071​
-6.559​
Hugh Greenwood
3​
32.82​
-1.303​
-2.357​
Miller Bergman
1​
21.93​
-1.317​
-6.5​
Cameron Zurhaar
14​
26.61​
-1.385​
0.474​
Josh Goater
1​
21.58​
-1.53​
-14.2​
Jy Simpkin
10​
26.82​
-1.596​
-7.733​
Aidan Corr
15​
30.62​
-2.062​
-3.888​
Nick Larkey
15​
26.56​
-2.297​
-10.368​
Eddie Ford
12​
22.52​
-2.615​
-12.31​
Liam Shiels
10​
33.67​
-3.716​
-21.388​
Incredible that Sheezel has been able to improve so much on his debut year.
 
Xerri. He's gone from "I guess he's ok as a stopgap but we have to find a ruckman in a hurry" to a genuine AA contender. Chom is a close second, mainly because he's much better as a key defender than any of us had dared to imagine, but we knew he had crazy talent and he's played very good games before, he's just been held back by injuries.
 
Xerri by a long way as he’s becoming one of the best ruckman in the game and fighting for a best and fairest.

Comben has shocked everyone by how well he’s performed as a key defender.

At the beginning of the year everyone was wondering how the club would improve without goldy and McKay and both players have replaced them and outperformed them both this year.

Archer and Phillips will be on this list if they continue their form from the last month.

Curtis Taylor, I wouldn’t say he’s improved as much as the others but hes definitely playing solid footy since coming back in the team
 
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